Hancock County Historical Society hosting cardboard boat race

To help raise funds in support of the Hancock County Historical Society, the organization has decided to try something new by hosting a cardboard boat race.

On Saturday, many will gather at Bay St. Louis Municipal Harbor beach front to celebrate the inaugural Cardboard Boat Race. Chris Roth, president of the Hancock County Historical Society, tells News 25 the cardboard boat race is a friendly competitive event to highlight Hancock County. “We think it’s going to be a fun event. It’s family oriented. We got kids from high school building boats, we got teachers building boats. We have individuals. So, we got a broad base of boats that will be out here.”

Prior to the race, boats will be judged on originality and design with trophies awarded for each category and division. “It’s got two components to it. One is the design of the boat and the costume and the crew and then the really fun part is when they actually go out in the water and paddle their cardboard boats. We will have awards for the winner of the races and then we also have an award for the most dramatic sinking of the boats.”

The boats are entirely made of cardboard that will race from the beach to a marker approximately 150 feet from the beach to a water depth of approximately three feet and will be timed. “You are very limited in terms of what you can use in terms of protective covering for the boat. You can paint the boat; you can do that much. You can tape the seams. However, the integrity of the boat for floatation purposes has to be entirely cardboard.”

If the boats are designed properly, they will make it through the race without sinking. “If they are not designed so well, based on the balance and displacement, then the boat is not going to fare so well. So, it’s also a test of the scientific skills and math skills of some of the folks building these boats.”

Roth says the goal is to expand and make the cardboard boat race an annual event. “We are looking forward to doing it in May of next year and encouraging all of the high schools to participate in it and see if we can make it an annual high school competition if you will.”